More and more attempts have been undertaken to rank excellence on the basis of new criteria and methodologies. Within the world of research, however, there has also been severe criticism of both the methodology and practical use of rankings.
Methodological criticism focuses, for example, on the quality and weighting of indicators or the overemphasis of research to the disadvantage of teaching. In terms of practical use, the allocation of institutional funding on the basis of such indicators has been criticised. These criticisms, in turn, have given rise to new approaches to performance evaluation, such as the European ranking system U-Multirank, which represents a new multidimensional approach to international university ranking.
There are now many higher education rankings based on different criteria and standards. That is why one international non-profit organisation, the IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence, has compiled an online inventory that enables users to find and assess different rankings.